U.K. Variant Of COVID-19 Found In Montgomery County

NORRISTOWN, PA — The new strain of coronavirus from the United Kingdom has arrived in Montgomery County, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

A 30-year-old bartender at an unspecified local restaurant is the county's first documented case of the new strain, authorities said. Officials said he has not required hospitalization.

The man started having fever, muscle pain, cough, diarrhea, and other symptoms on Jan. 13, and tested positive on Jan. 15. The Department of Health tested the sample and notified the county of the presence of the new strain days later.

"This is just a reminder that this more contagious U.K. variant is here in Montgomery County," Commissioner Val Arkoosh said Wednesday. "If you needed another reminder to be careful...this is certainly the wake-up call to do so."

The bartender worked a double shift the day before he noticed symptoms, and contact tracing is underway. Arkoosh said he had no recent travel history.

Contact tracers have reported several cases of the virus among staff members at that establishment since last November.

The "B117" United Kingdom variant of the virus is one of several variants that have popped up around the world in recent months. The U.K. variant is believed to be about one and a half times more contagious than the regular variant. However, it's not yet known if it's more deadly.

"I think it's too soon to say that," Arkoosh said. "I haven't seen anything with certainty on that."

The vaccines appear to still be effective against the UK variant; there are variants out of Brazil and South Africa against which the Moderna vaccine may not be as effective.

The county is closely monitoring the potential spread of the new variant.

New strains are really nothing new, authorities said. Variants of COVID-19 have been present since shortly after the virus. Most strains have such minor differences that they are meaningless. The strain in the U.K. is different because it spreads faster, and because of this advantage it has become more prevalent, officials said.